What Does it Cost?

We get the question "How much does it cost?" a lot. First, remember we're talking about Bev & Terry. We do every thing we want to do, and have lots of fun doing it, but we do it second class rather than first class. Since going to Progreso is a pretty normal day for us, here's our trip to Progreso.

A SUMMARY OF OUR DAILY EXPENSES IS AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST.

We got up and decided to get breakfast and pastries at the panaderia. We ate them on the bus.


THE NEW PROGRESSO BUS STATION

The bus station is on Calle 60 so it really is a pretty short hike to the bus station for us. We got to the bus station just in tme to buy 2 round trip tickets and hop on the bus. Life is good! Of course, when the bus left the station it turned and went over to Calle 68...we could've caught the bus one block from the casa. The bus trip to Progreso takes about 45 minutes...depends on traffic in Merida and how many people get off/on along the way. The Merida-Progreso highway is a nice 6 lane highway. The alternative would be to pay for a rental car or take a taxi or tour bus.

The Progreso bus station is only a couple of blocks from the malecon. Terry had to go to the bano which cost 2 pesos. He tipped the sweet little lady that sits at the desk all day a peso. She hands out the 4 alotted squares of toilet tissue. Today was a non-cruiseship day...totally different atmosphere than when it is a cruise ship day.

LAID BACK PLAYA PROGRESO ON NON-CRUISE SHIP DAY

THE MALECON

We head straight for the beach along the malecon. Our cervezas are cheap Sol 473 ml (approx. 16 ouncers) purchased at the Cerve Frio which is a short walk over the style and across the malecon. If we really wanted to save some pesos we could buy 1-liter Sols and some plastic cups...that's what the locals do. They cost $21 pesos each compared to our Sols which are 2 for $27 pesos. The alternative would be to purchase from the waiters that  work for the restaurants along the malecon and also serve cold adult beverages on the beach...for a cost. We don't have to pay for the public banos as long as we are on the beach...leave it at that!

Today, we had to splurge for AA batteries for the camera. Four Duracell batteries at the beach set up back $62 pesos.

As we got intelligent on the beach, we talked about Progreso as a Carnival Cruise Line stop. The beaches certainly aren't the bluest water, the souvinirs aren't the most glamorous, but Progreso remains rather quaint and it is one of the few stops where you can still get a glimpse into day to day life in a fairly sleepy little Mexican port town.

We always visit our same little beach bar directly on the beach and usually have ceviche and cervezas before heading back to Merida. Today, we decided to go to Eladio's - a very nice restaurant close to the pier and right on the beach of course. This is a splurge for us. We ordered cervezas and while we were still purusing the menus, our waiter brought us botanas of fresh tostado chips, refried bean dip, a sort of German potato salad plate, and the infamous cut-up weiners in salsa with onions/peppers....this is gratis when you order beer.

BOTANOS GRATIS AT ELADIO'S



 We ended up drinking 3 beers between the two of us and ate ceviche mixto and empanadas cazon...baby shark meat in a turnover kinda thing. These are the things you dream about when Mexico is in the rearview mirror.

EMPANADAS CAZON

CEVICHE MIXTO

After lunch, we headed back to the bus station---each made a stop at the bano and were on the bus back to Merida. We feel so lucky that we can get off the bus in Merida and walk a few blocks to Calle 70 saving the time it takes for the bus to drive all the way through downtown and still we have to walk about the same distance to get to the house.
 On the way out of town, we saw the Economica Cocina Hong Fat. I'm quite sure we could've had lunch there for considerably less...that would be an alternative to Eladio's.

Tonight....salsa dancing at Santiago Parque -
The band starts at sometime around 8:30...we had a couple of cocktails and by the time we got to the parque it was almost 10:00. We really didn't know where the time went. We were able to get in a couple of salsas before the band stopped playing --- we held our own and got a lot of smiles from our fellow dancers....I'm sure some were secretly laughing at our Gringo style, but the highlight was after the dance when we were invited back for next Martes noche by an elderly dancing couple. They said we needed to be there at ocho y medio cuando la musica jugando. They shook our hands and we parted ways. We came home and did some more salsa dancing in the house.

A Breakdown of What We Spent Today (in pesos) -
Breakfast & Postres............$ 29
Two round-trip bus tickets...$ 56
Bus station bano stop...........$  2
4 AA camera batteries.........$ 62
4 cervezas @ the beach.......$ 54
Botonas at Eladio's............. $   0
Lunch & 3 Cervezas........... $460
2 Bus station bano stops.....$    4
Dancing in the parque.........$    0
TOTAL COST                     $639
...ABOUT $59 USD

Gas...Yay!!!

It's somewhere around 10:30 our time (we don't think we have started DST down here yet), and the gas truck just left. Terry and I had decided to take shifts through the night so we didn't miss them again. It was quite a production as there wasn't enough parking spaces for the gas truck to pull in so we had to get some of the bar patrons from the bar around the corner to move their cars, but no problema. First they asked how much we wanted to pay, then they filled the tank accordingly. End result - 47.5 litros for 300 pesos. (I'm tired so you have to do the math). They really liked it when I pulled out the camera. The ladder climber did a special little slide down the ladder for us, but I was busy clapping and didn't get a shot of it. They left with the 300 pesos and we had a very official printed receipt to document the ordeal.

What Were YOU Doing at 1:02 am?...Another Reason to Take Afternoon Siestas

If you followed us last year you may remember we had a little issue with the bombero taking our gas tanque when we set it outside the front door. This year we are much more seasoned and in the know to let that happen again. But somehow this whole gas tank thing just keeps getting the best of us.

Terry has been making regular trips up to the rooftop to check our level of gas in the fixed tank...unlike last year's portable tank. Not sure why the tank is fixed on the roof to begin with except it just creates another challenge to get it filled. So, when the fill level dipped to 25% we decided it was time to refill it. So we ordered the gas...easy enough. We were told we needed to be here when the gas guys came because they will only fill the tank if they can collect the cold hard cash in pesos when they fill the tank. No bills in the mail here. And they also said it would be after 6 in the evening when they filled it because Calle 70 is a busy street.
Since we do eat most meals at home cooked on the gas stove and we do take warm showers, and we hand-wash our clothes with warm water having gas is kinda important. It's probably a good thing we placed an order when we did because obviously it may take several days to get to the bottom of this. After doing a little salsa dancing in Santiago Parque last night, we came home, had a nightcap, and went to bed...actually a little later than usual. And, we were a little disappointed that the gas guys still hadn't made it by. Have you ever heard the sound of a gas truck honk at 1:02 AM??? This morning Terry found a note under our front door. I guess the gas truck arrival was one of the sounds of Merida that we just flat out missed. And, the saga of the gas tanks in Merida continues.

Alcohol Consumption and Random Nothings

I didn't have much energy yesterday, so Terry soloed it. He went out and bought a haircutting set and gave himself a haircut.

Later on he walked over to AKI, the local small mercado in Santiago, (only a couple of blocks away) to buy beer. You can buy beer on Sundays, but not after 5 in the afternoon. We learned this the hard way last year. AND, no bebidos alcoholic in publico which means you can't walk down the street drinking, you can't drink in the parks, and all the little neighborhood bars have dividers up when you enter the front door so you can't see them drinking inside. However, we haven't quite figured this one out but this only applies in Merida - certainly not down in Progreso. Also, the places around the Gran Plaza get a pass or something because you can sit and drink in public at all the little sidewalk cafes when in the middle of downtown. Well, anyway, when Terry came out of the mercado there was a Gringo couple sitting in the park each drinking a bottle of beer. Up walked the local policia and he was telling them in Spanish that they weren't allowed to drink in public. They didn't have a clue what he was telling them, so Terry had to translate from the cop to the couple...just funny! So sorry I missed it!

This brings me to my next point - tomorrow night is salsa dancing in Parque Santiago. How many times have we gone dancing without drinking? So, we figured we would have a cocktail or two before we walk the 2 blocks over there to salsa dance....after several weeks of practicing!
As for me, I'm feeling much better today. I love waking up hearing all the outside sounds of morning. We have a pair of cooing doves that we listen to every morning. And, the next door barking dogs of course. There is some kind of bird that we never see/only hear that makes a very unusual morning sound. Then we start to hear the sounds of everyday life in Merida - people walking down the streets, kids on their way to school, iron gates clanking, buses headed down Calle 70, and the first class early bus run when you only hear the air brakes. If they were writing the blog they would mention the loud salsa music coming from the gringos house on Calle 70. I knew it was going to be a good day when Terry made me this awesome breakfast of migas, avocado, fried plantains and jugo de mango.  

We spent the morning cleaning the casa....sweeping (me), dusting (me), mopping (Terry), and cleaning the patio/rooftop mirador (Terry), and watering plants (Terry). And I cleaned el bano.  

Casa on Calle 70

The house is very comfortable, but yes, it is on a busy street. It is a typical colonial style house with 24' ceilings and 12" thick walls. Makes for cool even though the temperature gets up in the 90's during the day. We have ceiling fans in all the rooms, and a mini-split in the bedroom....of which we have not even turned on!!!  And, it came with a bonus ---lots of free entertainment. True to Merida, no zoning means we have a sports bar behind us - with VIP rooms! We can hang out on the rooftop mirador at night, look below, and watch the guys come in, and then watch as the senoritas with their short shorts and high heels come running. I'll stop right here, but it gets rather interesting as the night goes on.
We hang out in the terrace quite frequently, and eat most breakfasts, lunches, and dinners there. And it is the IT place for evening cocktails. We have a pair of doves that live in the trees, lots of little lizards (no iguanas! though) and a couple of junkyard dogs next door.
Somewhere there was an electrician/lighting maniac involved with the house as there are lights every where..beautiful wall sconces, recessed lights in all the rooms, glass blocks in the ceilings, lighting up the stairway to the mirador, and wall sconces on the outdoor terrace. And, all the lights are on reostats so if you are lucky enough to be able to find the wall switches you can create quite the ambiance.
The Mexican tile is beautiful but a little tricky as it is not laid flat on the surfaces. Glasses tend to tip over...will probably be replacing some as several has already bit the dust.

 


 

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Sisal...Home of the Best Blue Crab Ceviche Ever

Written by Terry - We went to a sleepy little beach/fishing village, NW of Merida(look on the map), called Sisal on Friday, ...I mean it makes Celestun, one of the places we liked last year, look like a metropolis. We rode in on the one bus that makes the only daily trip from/to Merida everyday, not really knowing how we were going to get back to Merida when it came time to leave. The people are super friendly, and there are some pretty nice houses there also. We walked the town, saw some flamingos, walked the beach and then ate a fresh mixto coctele(mixed cocktail) of jaiba(crab), pulpo(octopus), caracol(conch), and camarones(shrimp) with a couple of Modelo Especials(beers) at a little beach place called "El Restaurante del Muelle"(The Jetty Restaurant). Sisal is the blue crab haven of the Yucatan. They brought us out botanas(snacks) of blue crab, some kind of pulpo ceviche and chips that would have been enough to eat in of itself before our coctele arrived. It was awesome!

When it came time to head back to Merida we went to the town square and found where the fisherman were hanging out, at the sitio de taxis(taxi stop). There were some old beat up vans, looked like 1980 models(yep, older than you Cole), there that said Merida on the window, so for $12 pesos each($1 US), the fisherman, their 5 gallon buckets of fish/crab/tools etc, and us gringos, all loaded up. It seems like there were at least 50 of us in this van...just like the funny Mexican TV shows...thank goodness I had a window seat, I'm not sure where Bev ended up. We didn't go all the way to Merida though...had to catch a connecting van at Hunucuma to Merida, which was a little less crowded and more upscale...at least bumped up to 3rd class...but we made it. Was really funny because they drove right by our front door in Merida and we got off at the corner...now that's service you can only get when you fly 3rd class Mexican style.

Written by Beverly - One thing we have learned is that asking a lot of questions about how to travel back, which bus do I get on, where do I catch the bus, etc., etc., gets you no where. The best thing to do is just make a statement: "Nos gustaria ir a Merida, por favor " (we would like to go to Merida) and then just kick back and put your life in their hands...they always seem to take care of us.

Believe in Fate

I have always believed in fate and I believe it is fate that has lead me back to posting on this blog site. We fell in love with Merida last year on our 2+ month visit ended Cinco de Mayo 2011 and then somewhat fell out of love, then back in love...we think. Let me explain, the city is fabulous and has so much to offer including being within close proximity to saltwater. But along the way we thought the future would hold a rent or buy on the water...I mean, it is our love. But after some consideration we have been lead back to Merida and will again start by renting for 3 months in centro to determine if absence does in fact make the heart grow fonder. Our reasons to home base in Merida include ease of hopping the local, first and second class busses, and noreste buses to anywhere, wonderful local mercadoes as well as the mega Chedraui, great local people, free entertainment, plenty of architecture marvels to ponder, great parques. Additionally, the Gulf is close and the Carribean is close enough, and, let's face it - air travel means we are less than 2 hrs. away from IAH if the need arises to come this way quickly.

This trip Kim will be charged with the responsibility of watching over S/V Cool Change while we are away. Terry has been busy preparing a list of things Kim will need to check on a regular basis. Hopefully Craig can help her out on occasion and they can enjoy a few adult beverages in the cockpit or at the tiki bar while we're gone. 

As I write this I am lying in the forward berth listening to a hard rain. I had checked radar earlier and it was 72 in Merida, and it "felt like 72". We have a couple more weeks plus days so we are continuing our Spanish lessons and preparing to do some family visiting. Looking forward to headin' back to Merida and determining if it does in fact pull at our heartstrings like we are anticipating it will.